Weekend with Joanie (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
by ilna
Summary: Steve and Catherine spend the weekend with Joan.
1. Who's Your Favorite Princess?

**Notes:** As always, huge thank you to Mari and Sammy for the squeals and gibberish as you read. And for letting me take over Friday as well because …

Yes, REAL McRollers, I couldn't fit all the Joanie fun into one post, so Chapter 2 will be coming your way on Friday!

Thank you for all your excitement about their weekend together. I hope you enjoy it!

Special thanks to my nieces, the cutest girls in the world, who are luckily still too young to be embarrassed at my immortalizing their antics in fanfiction :-)

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _Weekend with Joanie (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

 _Chapter 1: Who's Your Favorite Princess?_

 **Friday, April 14th**

"Okay, peanut," Mary said to the almost-four-year-old whose arms were wrapped tightly around her neck. "I want you to be a good listener for Uncle Steve and Aunt Catherine, okay? Can you do that for Mama?"

Joan nodded, her head pressed against Mary's shoulder.

"You're gonna have so much fun," Aaron said from beside them, rubbing Joan's back. "You'll hardly even know we're gone."

She looked at him, unshed tears in her eyes at their imminent departure.

He leaned over and kissed her head. "I love you, pumpkin."

"I wuv you," she said quietly, unwrapping her arms from Mary's neck just long enough to hug him. But as soon as it seemed like Mary was going to pass her to Aaron, the little girl's arms went right back around her mother.

Mary looked over Joan's head at Steve and Catherine standing close by. "I'm sorry," she mouthed.

Catherine immediately shook her head, conveying their complete understanding.

"Okay, peanut, Mama and Aaron have to go now," Mary said. "We'll be back before you know it." She held Joan close, rocking her slightly, and kissed her head. "I love you so much. Can I have a kiss?"

Joan dutifully lifted her head to peck her mother on the lips. Mary stepped over to pass her to Catherine.

"Come here, honey," Catherine coaxed, holding her hands out.

After a momentary hesitation and an encouraging smile from Mary, Joan went into her aunt's arms.

"Have fun, peanut, be a good listener," Mary repeated, kissing her head once more. "We'll call you on the iPad as soon as we get to San Francisco, okay? I promise."

"We love you," Aaron said, dropping an arm around Mary's shoulder and smiling softly at Joan.

"Have a good time," Catherine said to them as she rubbed a comforting hand up and down Joan's back. "We'll talk to you later."

"Safe travels," Steve said.

"You guys have fun, too," Mary said, stepping to the door with Aaron. "Love you."

"Love you both," Catherine said.

"Love you, peanut," Mary said again.

Joan sniffed, reaching a hand in her mother's direction. "Wuv you, Mama."

"Bye," Aaron said as they finally made it out the door.

"Mama," Joan said, her eyes welling up again as the door closed behind them.

"Do you want to wave goodbye at the window?" Catherine asked.

Joan nodded emphatically and all three walked over to the large picture window so they could see Mary and Aaron getting into his car.

"See, there they go," Steve said.

"Mama! Aawon!" Joan called.

Though they couldn't hear her, both started to wave.

"Bye bye," Catherine prompted in a sing-song voice, waving back.

"Bye bye," Joan echoed half-heartedly, raising one hand.

Catherine glanced up at Steve, and he took the hint and began waving as well. "Bye," he said.

Joan looked at him and started to smile. She turned back to the window and waved more enthusiastically. "Bye bye!"

As the car backed out of the drive, Joan brought a small fist to her face, wiping at her eyes.

"They'll be back, Joanie," Steve said, placing a gentle hand on her back.

Catherine kissed her head, swaying with her. "And we are going to have so much fun this weekend, right? You and me and Uncle Steve …"

Joan looked between them. "We going to pway?"

"Yes, we are going to play all sorts of different things," Catherine said. "What do you want to do first?"

"Do you want to go outside?" Steve asked, eager to take her mind off Mary and Aaron's departure. "We can play on your swingset."

She nodded eagerly, wriggling to get down. "I go on da swide! You watch me cwimb up dere, Unca Steve! I can do it by mysewf!"

"Okay, let's go," he said, exchanging a relieved look with Catherine as Joan happily ran toward the sunroom. "Whew. Crisis averted."

She grinned, nudging him with her elbow. "What crisis? We got this."

"Yeah, we do," he agreed immediately, grinning back as they followed Joan out the door that led to the backyard.

* * *

"Look at you go, big girl!" Catherine exclaimed as she watched Joan crawling up the mini climbing-wall on the swingset with Steve standing close behind, his hands out and ready in case she slipped.

"Back when we put this up, you didn't even want to try. Now look at you," Steve continued, smiling proudly. "You're a pro."

"I do dis aww da time, Unca Steve," Joan said, just as her foot missed one of the steps and she lost her grip.

Steve was quick to steady her. "I got you." As she repositioned her hands and feet, he said, "Focus on what you're doing, Joanie."

"Ohh-kay," she said, drawing out the "o," and concentrated on the rest of her climb. Once she was standing on the top platform, she threw her hands up triumphantly. "I did it!"

"Great job, sweetie!" Catherine said, clapping.

"Now I swide down." She pointed to the base of the slide. "You catch me, Ann Caf."

"I'll catch you," she promised.

Joan sat carefully at the top and checked to make sure Catherine was where she wanted her. With a big smile, she pushed off and slid down, raising her hands in the air. "Wheee!"

"Got you," Catherine said, slowing her at the end. "Was that fun?"

"Yes! I do it again!" Jumping off, she ran back to the climbing wall.

"Okay, let's see you climb," Steve said, giving her an encouraging smile.

After several more trips up the wall and down the slide, Joan ran over to one of the two bright yellow swings. "I swing now," she said, carefully climbing on. "You push me, Unca Steve. Pwease?"

"All right," he said, moving behind her. "I'll push you."

She looked back, hanging on to the two chains, her eyes wide. "Not too high, okay?"

"Okay," he promised.

"Just a widdle high."

He shared a smile with Catherine who had taken out her phone to snap a few pictures. Grabbing the two chains, he drew the swing back a few feet and let it go.

"Eeeee!" Joan squealed, scissoring her legs happily.

"Pump your legs together," Steve said as he gently pushed her on the back.

"I know how," she insisted. "I kick wike dis." She pumped her legs forward and back.

"Ooh, you're not the only one kicking, Joan," Catherine said with a smile as she placed a hand on the side of her belly. "Niblet's getting some good ones in, too."

"Nibwet kicking?" Joan asked, confused. She stopped pumping her legs and cocked her head curiously even as Steve continued to push her.

"Yeah, remember, she's in my tummy, and sometimes she moves around and kicks." Catherine's eyes lit with a sudden idea. "Do you want to feel her?"

"I feew her?"

"Sure, come here."

Steve slowed the swing to a stop so Joan could slide to the ground. She ran over to Catherine and looked up expectantly.

"Here," Catherine said, taking her small hand. "Put your hand right here." She placed Joan's hand on her belly beneath her own and held it there. "Wait a second …" She smiled. "There. Did you feel that?"

Joan's eyes widened, and she brought her other hand up. "I feew! I feew!"

"That's Niblet," Catherine said, smiling broadly. "That's your cousin."

Joan bounced excitedly and looked at Steve who had joined them. "Unca Steve, I feew Nibwet kicking in dere!"

"I know," he said, smiling, his own hand joining theirs on Catherine's belly. "She's pretty strong, isn't she?"

"She so stwong," Joan said, her voice full of wonder.

"Just like you," he continued with a soft smile. "And in a couple years, you can show her how to climb that rock wall and go down the slide and how to swing."

"I show her how to do aww o' dem," Joan promised solemnly. "When she coming?"

"Not for a couple of months yet, remember?" Catherine said. "After your birthday. But she'll be a baby so she won't be able to climb and slide right away."

Joan nodded. "Wike my baby." Her eyes brightened excitedly. "I show you her! Come on, Ann Caf! Come on, Unca Steve! I show you!" She ran around them, reaching for the handle on the back door.

Catherine smiled up at Steve. "Guess it's baby dolls next."

He shook his head, smiling. "It was only a matter of time." With a final gentle press to where Niblet was currently kicking, he wrapped an arm around Catherine's shoulder and they followed Joan back into the house.

* * *

"Dis is my Nibwet," Joan said, setting her baby doll on the sofa between Steve and Catherine. "Mama buyed her at da stow fo' me. I pwactice. See?" She picked up the doll and held her, rocking her back and forth. "Be niiice to da baby." She looked up at them and smiled expectantly.

"That's great, honey," Catherine said.

"Shhhhh," Joan said quietly. "My Nibwet is sweeping. See?"

"Ohh," Catherine whispered, sharing a quick smile with Steve. "I'm sorry."

"You howd her, Unca Steve," Joan said, passing him the doll. She grinned at the small baby in his large hands. "She so widdle."

"She is," Steve agreed, holding the doll up to examine it. "You know Niblet is about this size right now."

Joan looked back at Catherine's belly. "Wight now?"

"Your doll's a little heavier, but she's about the same length."

"Can I see her?" Joan asked, reaching for the hem of Catherine's t-shirt.

Catherine laughed. "No, just my tummy under there," she said, lifting her shirt a little to show her. "Niblet is inside. Uncle Steve has just read a book about babies," she flashed a teasing grin at her husband, "make that memorized a book. That's why he knows how big she is," she explained, guessing what Joan might have been thinking.

"Ohhh," Joan said, nodding slowly, not quite understanding everything, but grabbing on to a word she knew well. Her face brightened. "I have books! You want to see dem?"

"We would love to see your books, but it's getting close to lunchtime," Catherine said. "How about we have a little something to eat and then we can read some books afterwards for your quiet time."

"I want cwackers an' cheese!" Joan announced happily.

"That's it?" Steve asked.

Joan grinned, nodding.

"How about crackers and cheese and yogurt?" Catherine suggested.

"Yes!" Joan cried excitedly. "Stwabewwy!" She looked at Steve. "What kine of gogut you want, Unca Steve?"

"I don't know," he said, standing and scooping her up into the air to her delighted squeals. "Let's go see what's in the fridge."

"Do you have to go potty first, Joan?" Catherine asked, also standing.

"No!" Joan cried, giggling and holding her arms out wide.

"You haven't gone since you got up this morning, why don't you go try?"

"Good idea," Steve said. "You wanna fly down the hall?"

"Yes! Yes!" Joan squealed.

"All right, let's go!"

Catherine smiled, watching the two disappear down the hallway before heading to the kitchen to get lunch ready.

* * *

"Still a slow eater, huh, Joanie?" Steve asked with an amused smile a half hour later as they were still sitting at the kitchen table.

"I poky," Joan said matter-of-factly as she dunked a round cracker in her yogurt container. It was clearly a description she'd heard often.

After finishing in the bathroom, Joan had directed Catherine to a seat at the table and then pushed her own chair right next to it before crawling into her booster. Steve had been relegated to a spot across from them where he watched Joan slowly eat the promised cheese, crackers, and yogurt in between bouts of random questions and comments. _Would Niblet like cheese and crackers? Niblet was going to be her friend. Did they know that she had a big girl bed to sleep in now? Could they play on the swingset again after lunch? Her bed had a butterfly on it. What show were they going to watch later? If she finished all her yogurt could she have a treat? She liked chocolate. What were they going to eat for dinner? The dog walking outside the house wasn't as big as Cammie._

"You know I bet if you really focused on those last few bites of yogurt, you'd be done in a minute," Steve said.

Joan waved her spoon back and forth as she chanted, "Wess tawk, mow eat."

Steve's brow knit. " 'Less talk, more eat'?" he translated.

She grinned toothily. "Dat's wha' Aawon says."

"Well, I think Aaron may be onto something."

Catherine stood, picking up her long-empty plate and reaching across for Steve's. "Finish those last two bites," she said to Joan. "Then we can read for quiet time."

"Den we watch a show?" Joan asked.

"Tonight we'll watch a little bit of a show. After your bath."

Joan squinched up her face. "I have baf tonight?"

"That's what Mama said, because you didn't want to take one last night," Catherine told her as she put the plates in the dishwasher.

"Come on, Joanie, finish up," Steve said, a bit more insistence in his voice.

"I aww done," she said, pushing the spoon and yogurt container away. She looked at Catherine who had returned with a wet cloth. "Can I have a tweat, Ann Caf?"

"Just a little one," Catherine said, placing a small wrapped Dove chocolate in front of her. "We're having popcorn later as a special treat when we watch your show."

Joan bounced excitedly even as she tried to unwrap the candy. "Bobco'n!" She looked over her shoulder at Steve who had gone into the kitchen with her plate, finishing the final bite from her yogurt cup. "You wike bobco'n, Unca Steve?"

"Sure," he said.

"I wike bobco'n." She turned her attention back to the chocolate in her hand, finally managing to get the foil wrapper off. She scrunched it in her hand as she popped the candy into her mouth. "You wike bobco'n, Ann Caf?" she asked as she chewed.

"Keep that mouth closed, please," Catherine reminded her with a gentle smile. "Let me see your hands. Yes, I like popcorn, too," she said as she wiped Joan's hands clean with the wet cloth.

"Bobco'n is bewy nummy," Joan told her once she had swallowed the chocolate.

"Yep," Catherine agreed, quickly wiping the little girl's face. She shook her head in amusement. "How did you get yogurt on your forehead?"

"I think it was during the description of the butterfly bed," Steve said as he rejoined them.

She grinned at him and then turned back to Joan. "Okay, go pick out a couple books to read in your room. We'll be there in a minute."

"I pick aww da good books!" Joan said, climbing down from her chair. She ran down the hallway toward her bedroom. "Come on!"

"Did you get enough to eat?" Steve asked, a hand going to Catherine's waist.

She smiled. "Yeah, I'm good." She quirked an eyebrow. "How you doing? Made it through a half a day with no princesses yet," she teased.

"Hey, I'm ready," he countered. "I recognized all three on her cup."

"Well, you had some very good tutors."

"The best," he agreed.

 _ **Previous Wednesday (April 12)**_

" _I can't believe I'm doing this," Steve muttered to Catherine in the kitchen as he poured pretzels into a large bowl._

" _They worked really hard," she reminded him quietly._

" _I know, I know." He rubbed his head. "But it's … princesses."_

" _It's for Joan."_

" _Right," he sighed. "And the information will probably come in handy in a couple years," he added with a quick nod in Niblet's direction._

 _She grinned, running a hand over her ever-expanding belly. "Unless, of course, Niblet has absolutely no interest in Disney princesses and you end up knowing more about them than she does."_

 _He snorted. "That's entirely possible. And Danny'd never let me hear the end of it."_

 _"Uncle Steve, we're ready!" Grace called from the living room._

 _"Yep!" he replied before turning back to Catherine. "Wish me luck."_

 _She smiled and drew him in for a brief kiss. "You're a good uncle."_

 _He flashed a smile in return, albeit a slightly reluctant one._

 _Taking a deep breath, he picked up the bowl of pretzels and headed into the living room where Grace and Kaitlyn were waiting expectantly for him on the sofa._

 _"Come sit right here," Grace said, patting the spot between them. "We made a PowerPoint."_

 _"And flashcards," Kaitlyn added, holding them up._

 _Steve stopped at the sight of Danny sitting in one of the chairs. "What are you still doing here? I thought you were just dropping the girls off."_

 _His partner smirked. "Are you crazy?" He rubbed his hands together eagerly. "I wasn't gonna miss this."_

 _Steve threw him an irritated look._

" _Come on, Uncle Steve," Kaitlyn said, oblivious to the underlying exchange._

 _He stifled a groan and sat down between the girls._

" _Now I talked to Mary this weekend," Grace began, sitting up nice and straight. "She said Joan's favorite princess changes pretty much every day, but usually alternates between Belle, Elsa, and Ariel." She counted off on her fingers with each name._

 _Steve's brow knit. "Elsa is the one with the …" He flicked his hand out in a rough imitation of a magical gesture. "Snow, right?"_

 _Kaitlyn smiled proudly. "That's right! Good job, Uncle Steve."_

 _Danny snorted, and Steve threw him another look._

" _Thank you, Kaitlyn," he said pointedly._

" _Okay," Grace continued, in full-teacher mode. "But she also picks Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel sometimes. And if you're going to playing Go Fish with Disney Princess cards, you probably should just know them all."_

 _Danny nodded sagely, fighting a smile. "Sounds very logical to me."_

" _You know, I bet Catherine could use a hand with dinner," Steve suggested to him._

" _No, I don't!" Catherine's response came from the kitchen._

 _Danny bark laughed, then settled back in his chair to get comfortable as Grace clicked the touchpad on the laptop to advance to the first slide of "Kaitlyn and Grace's Disney Princess Tutorial."_

" _The first princess is Snow White," she began, and Steve heaved a sigh, turning his full attention to the presentation._

"In fact," Steve continued, "I'm so ready, after Joanie's quiet time, I'm gonna suggest a game of Go Fish."

Catherine raised her eyebrows, thoroughly amused. "Is that right?"

"That's right," he said, folding his arms and nodding confidently. "So watch out, Lieutenant, you're going down."

"At Disney Princess Go Fish?"

"At Disney Princess Go Fish."

"You really want to be known as the Navy SEAL who won Disney Princess Go Fish?"

That gave him pause. He sucked in a breath through his teeth as thought it over.

"Yes," he said finally. "Totally worth it."

She grinned. "I love you."

He grinned back, leaning over to kiss her. "See if you're still saying that after my victory."

* * *

"Unca Steve, do you have Awowa?" Joan asked, using both hands to hold the oversized, pink cards.

Steve paused, his brow furrowing as he sorted through the very recent file of Disney Princess information in his head.

After an hour of quiet time reading books in her room, first with Steve and Catherine, and then on her own, Joan had been ready for a new activity and, true to his word, Steve had suggested Go Fish.

"Aurora … Aurora … that's … Sleeping Beauty?" He glanced at Catherine who pressed her lips tightly together, unable to completely hide her smile.

Joan, on the other hand, nodded eagerly, beaming. "Sweeping Beauty! You have her?"

He scanned the cards in his hand. "Nope. Go Fish."

She reached for a card in the pile on the floor between them and looked at it. Not seeing Aurora, she groaned. "Come on!"

Steve and Catherine laughed, both surprised at her reaction.

"Where'd you get that?" Catherine asked.

"Gotta be Mary," Steve said.

She smiled teasingly. "Another branch of competitive McGarretts."

"Pot, kettle, Rollins," he countered, nodding at the pairs of cards arranged in front of her.

She grinned. "Niblet doesn't stand much of a chance, does she?"

"Of being uncompetitive? I guess we'll see, but I know how I'd bet."

She chuckled and turned her attention back to the game. "Joan, why are you picking up so many cards? You only have to take one when you go fish."

Joan grinned up at them. "I wike dese cawds," she said, at least ten new ones now in her lap. She picked them up one by one, placing them in front of her. "I wike Jasmine and Awowa and Tiana and Awiel …" She continued listing the princesses from her cards.

"Does this mean our game is over?" Catherine asked.

"Oh, come on," Steve protested.

"Steve." Catherine laughed at his reaction, so like Joan's.

"I have pwincess dwess!" Joan said suddenly, jumping up. "I wear it now!"

"Wear it now …?" Steve started, confused. "You're already dressed."

"I wear it!" Joan repeated as she ran to her bedroom.

Catherine chuckled, starting to straighten up the cards.

"Hey, hey, hey, we can finish …" Steve said, motioning with the cards still in his hand.

She clucked her tongue. "Steve …"

"Ann Caf!" A muffled voice came from the direction of Joan's room. "Ann Caf!"

"I'm coming, honey!" she called back, pushing herself up from the floor.

"Ann Caf! Hewp me!"

Catherine stepped into Joan's room to see the little girl with her pants off and her shirt stuck over her head, one arm out and one arm straight up.

"Uh oh," Catherine said. "What happened here?"

"I stuck."

Catherine smiled. "I see that. Here, let me help." She gently worked the shirt up and off, static causing Joan's blond hair to stick out in several directions.

She giggled, pushing the hair out of her face. "Dat's cwazy."

"That was pretty crazy," Catherine agreed, laughing as well. "Now what dress did you want to put on?"

Joan ran to her closet and pointed, jumping in place. "Dat one! I can't weach!" She looked at Catherine. "Can you get it fo' me?"

"What's that magic word?"

"Pwease?"

"Of course." She took a shiny pink dress off its hanger. "This one?"

Joan nodded eagerly, raising her arms in the air.

"Okay, here we go." Catherine helped her get the dress over her head.

Joan tugged it the rest of the way down and smoothed her hands over the skirt. "It's so sooooft. You want to feew it, Ann Caf?"

"Oh, it's very soft and smooth," Catherine said, touching the material. "That's a beautiful dress."

"Gamma Sue gibe to me."

"Well, that was very nice of her."

Joan nodded. "I sayed t'ank you and gibe her biiiig hug," she said, smiling proudly.

"Let's go show Uncle Steve your dress."

Joan hitched up her skirt and ran out of the room, yelling, "Unca Steve! Look at my dwess!"

"Hey, look at you," he said when she appeared in the living room. He laughed as she twirled.

"Aaron's mom got it for her," Catherine said, standing in the doorway.

"Dis is Awowa's bink dwess. She have bink dwess _and_ bwue dwess."

"I actually knew that," he said.

Catherine chuckled.

"Awowa is you favowite?" Joan asked.

"I wouldn't say that," Steve said.

"Who's you favowite?"

"If I had to pick …" He glanced up at Catherine who raised a curious eyebrow. "I'd say Merida."

Joan cocked her head. "Mewida?"

"From Brave," Catherine said.

Joan's smile split wide. "Mewida! The beaws!"

"Bears?" Steve asked as Joan once again took off running. She stopped at every room, reaching up to pull the doors shut.

Steve and Catherine followed curiously.

"What are you doing, hon?" Catherine asked.

"I cwose aww da doors so da beaws don't come in."

"Why would the bears come in?" Steve asked.

"Dey want to come in," Joan insisted, closing another door.

"What do they want?"

Joan looked back at them, her lips twisting as she thought. "Dey want toast," she said finally.

"Toast?" Catherine asked, a small laugh escaping. "The bears want toast?"

Joan closed the bathroom door and nodded seriously. "Yeah."

Steve rubbed a hand over his mouth to hide his smile. "What are you gonna do after you close all the doors?"

"I make dem toast."

"Of course," he said, his eyes catching Catherine's.

"Then what will happen?" Catherine asked, fighting a grin.

Joan closed the door to Mary and Aaron's bedroom. "Den dey be my fwiends," she answered as if it were obvious.

Steve finally broke, a wide smile on his face, chuckling warmly. "I guess no one ever thought to give the bears toast." His expression sobered. "But you know, Joanie, if you ever saw a real bear–"

"Steve," Catherine stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"What? I don't want her to–"

"Let's save the bear-talk till she's a little older." She turned to Joan and held a hand out. "How about we make some toast right now for a snack? Half for you and half for the bears."

"Yay!" Joan cried, jumping over to her and taking her hand. "You have some toast, too, Unca Steve?"

"Sure, Joanie," he said, smiling. "Can't give it all to the bears."

* * *

After a small snack of toast with peanut butter and honey, they convinced Joan to put her leggings and t-shirt back on so they could go for a walk around the neighborhood before dinner. She insisted on riding her little bike with its pink training wheels, waiting dutifully for Catherine to snap her helmet in place before climbing on.

She stopped every few feet or so to talk, either to a neighbor if one was out, happily introducing her "Unca Steve and Ann Caf and Nibwet" to any who had not met them, or to Steve and Catherine when there were no neighbors. She got particularly excited at the sight of the dogs she called her "fwiends," and always got off her bike to pet them. Her special favorite was Ladybug, a very friendly sheltie mix, who sat serenely and let Joan pet her for five minutes.

"It's gonna take us an hour to go half a block," Steve noted, though his smile showed he didn't mind at all.

Catherine smiled, squeezing his arm as she leaned against his side.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm good."

"When are you due, dear?" Mrs. Goodman, Ladybug's owner, asked.

Catherine ran a hand over her belly and smiled. "End of June."

"Getting a little practice in with that bundle of love?" she asked, nodding to Joan who was chatting away to Ladybug.

They all smiled at the sight.

"We've had her for a few hours here and there when they've come for a visit," Catherine said, "but this is the first full weekend."

"A whole different ballgame," Mrs. Goodman said, nodding her understanding.

"Wadybug kissed me!" Joan squealed happily, rubbing her cheek.

"What do you think, honey?" Catherine asked. "Should we start heading back home? It's almost dinner time. Uncle Steve's gonna make some chicken patties for us."

Joan jumped up excitedly. "I wike chicken paddies!"

"Yeah, your mom said that was one of the only things you like right now," Steve said with a wry smile.

"Say goodbye to Mrs. Goodman and Ladybug," Catherine said.

"Bye bye, Wadybug," Joan said, running her hand over the patient dog's back. She ran over to Catherine and grabbed her hand. Waving to Mrs. Goodman, she said, "Bye bye! We going to eat chicken paddies!"

"Mmm," the older woman said, smiling. "You enjoy. Have fun with your aunt and uncle. Happy Easter!"

"Happy Easter," Steve and Catherine returned before she headed back inside with Ladybug.

Steve turned Joan's bike in the direction of the house. "Here you go, Joanie."

She shook her head. "I don't wanna wide it anymore, Unca Steve. I a widdle ti'ed o' widing. I wawk wif Ann Caf."

Catherine grinned back at him as Joan started to tug her down the sidewalk.

He sighed, scratching the side of his head, and picked up the bike. "I probably should've seen this coming."

* * *

While Steve made dinner, Joan and Catherine made pictures with her Disney Princess stamp set. As slow as lunch seemed to go, dinner took even longer, but Joan was finally finished with Mary and Aaron Skyped in on the iPad.

Joan excitedly told them everything they had done that day, helped along by prompts from Catherine and Steve when she couldn't remember details. Though one detail she had no trouble remembering was that Uncle Steve's favorite princess was "Mewida," which got an amused, "Of course you'd pick the one with the weapons," from Mary.

After the call, which had thankfully ended without any tears, Catherine announced it was time for Joan's bath so she could watch a little television before going to bed.

Catherine sat on the edge of the bathtub, gently rinsing Joan's hair with a cup of water.

"Eyes closed," she reminded her before she poured again, placing a hand at Joan's hairline as well to block the water, then running it back over her hair to remove the last of the suds. "There we go, all the shampoo is gone."

Joan blinked her eyes open and smiled. "Watch me, Ann Caf, I can be wike Awiel." She lay back in the shallow water, keeping her face up, but letting her hair flow behind her. Swaying her head back and forth, she grinned. "See? I have mewmaid haiya."

Catherine laughed. "Mermaid hair, I see. Is the mermaid ready for her washcloth?"

Joan sat up, taking the soapy washcloth and rubbing it on her skin. "I can do it mysewf, see?"

"You can. You're such a big girl now."

"I awmost fo-wa."

Catherine smiled. "I know. You're growing up so fast."

"I go to pweschoo' when I fo-wa."

"Do you think you'll like preschool?"

Joan nodded.

"Keep washing," Catherine told her.

"At pweschoo', I can pway wif my fwiends and have a teacha'," Joan said, washing her chest.

"That's right, you'll have a teacher. And you can learn and play and get ready for kindergarten."

"And have a backback!"

Catherine laughed. "A backpack?"

Joan nodded. "Wike da biiiig kids." She held the washcloth out. "I aww cwean."

"All clean? I don't think so." She smiled, taking the cloth. "Arms up."

Joan dutifully raised her arms so Catherine could clean them, then she ran the cloth over her back. She rinsed her clean and checked her hair again after the "mermaid" dip in the sudsy water.

"You bants aww wet, Ann Caf."

Catherine sat back, draping the washcloth on the soap dish. "They are kinda wet," she agreed. "Maybe I'll put my pajamas on after this, too."

Joan grinned. "You have pwincess jammas?"

"No princess pajamas for me. But I can't wait to see yours. How about five more minutes to play, and then out? We still have your show and our popcorn treat."

"Bobco'n!" Joan squealed, slapping the water with both hands in her excitement and sending more water in Catherine's direction.

Catherine chuckled, shaking her head. "Definitely gonna have to change after this."

"Sowwy, Ann Caf," Joan said, genuinely contrite.

"It's okay, sweetie, I know it was an accident. Are you ready to get out, or do you want to play for a few more minutes?"

"I get owt," Joan said, holding her hands up. "We have bobco'n!"

Catherine took her hands and pulled her into a standing position. "Okay, let me get your towel." She stood, reaching for the pink hooded towel hanging on the back of the door. She dried Joan a little before helping her step over the rim of the tub and letting her dry herself the rest of the way.

"I cowd, Ann Caf," Joan said, wrapping the towel around herself and shivering a little.

"I know. Are you dry?" She rubbed the towel over Joan's arms and legs. "Okay, Uncle Steve can help you with your pajamas while I clean up in here and change my pants." She opened the door. "Steve?"

"Yeah," he called back from the kitchen, putting the last of the dishes from dinner away after washing them.

"Joan's ready for her pajamas."

"Okay."

"Go on, honey, hurry so you can get warm," Catherine urged, nudging her out the door.

Joan ran the short distance to her bedroom and Steve joined her a moment later.

"How was your bath?" he asked.

"I cowd, Unca Steve. I need my jammas on."

"Okay, where are they?" he asked, looking around the room.

Joan went to one of the decorative cloth storage bins and dug around until she found the nightgown she wanted. Predictably, it had three princesses on the front.

"I need undies, too, Unca Steve," she told him.

"Okay, I think you probably know where things are better than I do."

She pulled another bin out and searched for a pair of underwear that she liked. Once she found it, she carefully laid them and the nightgown out on the floor. Wiping her towel off, she sat down and pulled the pink, polka-dotted undies onto her legs, then stood to pull them all the way up. She raised her arms and said, "You hewp me wid my jammas?"

"Yeah, wouldn't want you to get stuck again," he said with a little smile, scooping the nightgown off the floor and helping her pull it down her arms and over her head.

She grinned up at him. "Now I can bwush my teef!"

"Well, we're gonna have some popcorn, remember? So you can brush your teeth after that."

Her little brow furrowed at that. "No, I bwush my teef after baf."

"I … but you don't want to brush your teeth and then eat something," he tried to reason. "You'll just have to brush them again."

"But it's what we do," she stated definitively.

"How's it going in here?" Catherine asked from the doorway, having donned dry cotton pants.

"We're having a small breakdown in logic and I think we're gonna be brushing our teeth twice tonight," Steve said.

"I bwush my teef after baf, Ann Caf."

"But we're going to have popcorn, remember?"

"Already tried," Steve said.

"We definitely need to brush your hair," Catherine said. "We don't want it to get tangled when you sleep, do we?"

Joan shook her head frantically. "I hate tangas, it huwts."

"I know. So come on, let's brush your hair."

Joan followed her back to the bathroom and stood on a little stool facing the mirror while Catherine sprayed detangler in her wet hair and gently brushed it out.

"You bwush niiice, Ann Caf," she said, meeting her eyes in the mirror.

Catherine smiled. "I'm trying."

"You awmost done?"

"Almost."

After a few more strokes, Catherine set down the brush. "Okay, all set."

"Now I bwush my teef."

Catherine sighed, shaking her head. "Okay, brush your teeth."

Steve chuckled, leaning against the doorframe.

Joan handed Catherine the My Little Pony bottle of toothpaste.

"You sqweeze it fo' me?" She held her pink toothbrush out. "Just a widdle."

Catherine squeezed a small amount onto the brush and Joan put it in her mouth, chewing on the bristles.

Steve's brow knit as he watched. "That's not real toothpaste, is it?"

"It's sbecial," Joan said around her toothbrush.

"Training toothpaste," Catherine explained. "Mary said she still swallows too much. Here, let me see." She took the handle and gently brushed Joan's teeth. "Okay, spit."

Joan spit in the sink and reached for her little dixie cup, filling it with water from the tap and taking a drink. She looked up at Steve and gave him a toothy grin.

"Now we have bobco'n?"

* * *

A half an hour later, Joan was tucked into bed. She had snuggled up with Catherine on the sofa, Steve on her other side, and they'd shared a small bowl of popcorn and watched about fifteen minutes of an episode of _Sofia the First_ that was saved on the DVR.

It had taken a little convincing, but Catherine had managed to get her to brush her teeth again before going potty. Then both Steve and Catherine each read her a book in bed.

Her eyelids drooping, Joan accepted good night kisses and had her eyes closed even before Steve turned the light off and closed the door partway.

While Steve made a quick call to Danny in the kitchen to check on the details of case the team had just wrapped, Catherine settled back on the sofa to relax after the exhausting day. She scrolled through the DVR listings and decided on an episode of _Planet Earth II_ that either Mary or Aaron had recorded, turning the volume down so she could just hear the narrator's words.

When Steve returned a few minutes later, Catherine had tears in her eyes.

"What?" he asked, immediately concerned.

"These spider monkeys," she said. "Here, come watch this." She waved him over as she rewound the scene. "This little spider monkey in Guatemala snuck away from her father to climb way up in the canopy," she explained as he sat down beside her, draping an arm over her shoulders and tucking her against his side, all the while listening intently. "She's only a couple months old and it's so high up, she wouldn't survive a fall." She pressed play on the remote, and they watched as the little monkey climbed over thinner and thinner branches until she lost her grip and started to fall. She was able to grab onto a branch with her tail, but couldn't reach another branch to pull herself to safety.

They listened to her frantic cries as she swung helplessly until another monkey appeared.

"Father, however, _was_ watching," the narrator David Attenborough's rich, calm voice assured them.

On the screen, the father spider monkey used his body as a bridge so that his daughter could climb onto him. She wrapped her arms, legs, and tail tightly around him in obvious relief and complete trust.

Catherine curled her hand around Steve's and placed them on their daughter growing within her.

"I know you'll always be watching to keep her safe," she said. "Just like you were with Joan on the rock wall."

He kissed her temple. "We both will."

She nodded. "Yes, we will. And I also know that whether our daughter loves princesses or monster trucks … or both," she laughed, blinking away her tears, "or anything else in between … I know that you will love her totally and completely for who she is."

"I will," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "Always."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Stay tuned for Chapter 2 on Friday!**

 **Notes:** Thanks to _**sue2556**_ for the princess tutorial idea with Grace. I hope you don't mind I invited Kaitlyn along. We may see a little more of that scene in the second chapter. :-)

And do yourself a favor and Google the Planet Earth II spider monkey scene if you haven't seen it. It's one of those most touching things I've ever seen.

 _Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll_

 _Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net_

 _Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com_

 _You can still join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with Add me, please! in the subject line._

 _And find Mari on Twitter asking your opinions on all things McRoll in the REAL World! at Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller_


	2. Practicing Every Angle

**Notes:** Sooooo this one kinda got away from me, but I was having too much fun to stop. So much fun, in fact, that there will now be a third and final chapter posted as a bonus on Sunday.

Thank you for your fantastic support, readers and REAL McRollers, I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing it.

And huge thanks to Sammy and Mari for impeccable timing and saucy late night inspirations :-). You're the best!

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _Weekend with Joanie (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

 _Chapter 2: Practicing Every Angle_

 **Saturday, April 15**

Steve and Catherine both woke at the sound of footsteps in the hallway. Catherine pushed up on an arm and saw a pajama-clad Joan clutching her beloved Comfort Bunny in their doorway, tears streaking down her face.

"Steve," Catherine began, but he was already up and moving. He reached Joan in two strides and lifted her into his arms.

"Are you okay, Joanie?" he asked, trying to look her over, but she had immediately wrapped herself tightly around him, crying softly into his neck. He looked at Catherine, his eyes wide with concern.

"Ohh, honey," Catherine said soothingly. "Honey, come here."

Joan looked over, small sounds of distress escaping her. Steve walked to the bed, setting her down gently, and she immediately crawled over to Catherine, pressing herself against her aunt and crying almost soundlessly.

"Are you sick, sweetheart?" Catherine asked quietly into her hair as she wrapped an arm around Joan and cradled her head.

A faint, "Uh uh," came from Joan, her face pressed to Catherine's chest as she tried to curl even closer.

"Did you have a bad dream?"

No response came other than the continued little whimpers.

"Shhhh," Catherine murmured, rubbing her back gently. "It's okay, honey. You're okay."

She glanced up at Steve who was standing next to the bed, a look of helplessness on his face. She motioned to him with one hand to join them.

"It's okay, sweetie," she said again to Joan in the same soothing tone. "You can stay right here with us."

Steve knelt down on the bed and Catherine nodded at him to pull the covers back up. He couldn't help but do another once over of his niece to make sure there were no signs of injury before he arranged the sheet and duvet over her and Catherine, settling in beside them.

Catherine continued to murmur quietly against her hair and rub her back. Steve put a gentle hand on her upper arm, the rest of it wedged tightly against Catherine.

"We're here, Joanie," he said softly. "You're okay. We've got you."

Joan's whimpers quieted and it sounded like she was calming down.

After a few minutes, Catherine shifted for a better look at the little girl in her arms. She glanced up at Steve who had remained propped on one elbow and whispered, "She's asleep."

He exhaled in relief. Carefully removing his hand he lowered his own voice and asked, "Should I take her back to her bed?"

"No, just let her sleep here. In case she wakes up again."

He nodded. "What do you think that was about?" he asked, his concern at his normally happy niece's tearful sudden appearance in their doorway still apparent.

"I don't know. Maybe she had a bad dream. Or maybe she went to find Mary and Aaron but they weren't there. Might've taken her a minute to remember about us but by then she was already crying." She shrugged one shoulder slightly, careful not to disturb Joan. "Hard to say unless she gives us a clue."

He sighed. "I don't like not knowing what's wrong."

She smiled softly, reaching for his hand. "I know." She squeezed his fingers. "But sometimes you just have to be there." She glanced down at Joan now sleeping peacefully. "Sometimes that's enough."

He stared at her and Joan while taking in the simple truth of her words. With a small answering smile, he leaned down to kiss her hand before they both let their own eyes drift closed again for a little more sleep in preparation for what was sure to be another fun-filled, exhausting day with Joan.

* * *

"Hewe's da biwfday hat!" Joan announced, lifting the puzzle piece from its spot and holding it out towards Steve. "I put it on you head."

The two were seated on the floor of the living room, playing while Catherine finished her shower. They'd eaten breakfast after Joan had woken up a little before seven. When they'd asked her if she could tell them why she'd been so upset earlier, she'd simply shaken her head and launched into a recitation of what she wanted to do that day, starting with putting her princess dress back on. Since she seemed back to her normal self, they decided not to dwell.

Steve leaned down so Joan could hold the wooden hat piece over his head for a moment.

"Ohh," she said, "you look so han'som."

He laughed, sitting back up. "In a birthday hat? Well, thank you, Joanie."

"I make you a biwfday cake!" she cried, picking up another puzzle piece. "Hewe, you can eat it."

"Looks good." He pretended to take a big bite. "Is that chocolate?"

She nodded. "Mmhmm, and stwawbewwy."

"Mm, Aunt Cath would like that."

"Aunt Cath would like what?" Catherine asked as she appeared from around the corner.

"Unca Steve's biwfday cake!" Joan announced, holding up the piece.

"Ohh, looks yummy."

"It's bewy nummy. You twy it?" Joan asked, offering it to her.

Catherine knelt carefully and took a pretend bite. She smiled. "So nummy. Did you make it?"

Joan nodded as she picked up another piece. "It's a bawwoon!"

"How many balloons?" Catherine asked.

Joan looked at the piece, pointing to each balloon as she counted. "One, two, fwee!"

Catherine smiled broadly. "That's right."

Joan picked up the cake piece again and held it out to Steve. "You have to bwow your candas owt. Wike dis." She put the piece by her mouth and blew several times in the general direction of the candles painted on top. "Hewe, you do it."

Steve chuckled, taking the cake. "Probably should've done that before taking a bite," he said, flashing a quick smile at Catherine before dutifully "blowing out" the candles.

Joan clapped. "Yay! You did it!" She pried another puzzle piece out. "Dere's you pwesent!" she said, giving him the pink and purple wrapped gift.

"Thank you. What it is?"

"You have to open it, Unca Steve," she patiently explained.

"Yeah, Uncle Steve," Catherine teased.

He threw her an amused look before glancing down at the puzzle piece. "I don't think it's big enough to be an elephant."

Joan giggled.

"It's not the right shape to be a new surfboard …"

"Unca Steve!" Joan cried, laughing so hard she toppled backwards, catching herself on her hands and pushing back up. "It's a book!"

"A book? Oh, of course. I should've guessed."

"A book is a very good gift," Catherine said.

Joan nodded. "I wike gift books." She picked up the last puzzle piece and held it towards Steve. "Hewe's … hewe's dis!" she said, unable to remember the word.

"Hey, it's a party blower," Steve said, taking it from her. He glanced at Catherine, smiling softly. "That's a very special thing to have at a birthday party."

"You have one?" Joan asked curiously.

"I had a very, very special one once," he replied, holding Catherine's gaze.

She smiled back.

"Dat's aww da biwfday fwings," Joan said, holding out her empty hands over the puzzle. She grinned. "Happy biwfday, Unca Steve!"

"Thank you for all those birthday things," Steve said, handing the pieces back to her one by one so she could fit them back into their spots. "You throw a great birthday party, Joanie."

"You do," Catherine agreed. "But that was a pretty easy puzzle. Don't you have some big girl ones to do?"

Joan nodded eagerly. "I have pwincess puzzle! It's hawd. You hewp me, Ann Caf?"

"Of course I'll help you."

Joan jumped up happily and ran to the shelf with her games and puzzles.

Steve stood. "Why don't you two work on that while I grab a quick shower," he said.

"Okay," Catherine said, standing as well.

"You come back soon, Unca Steve," Joan told him, shaking her finger for emphasis.

He smiled. "I will. Just a few minutes."

She nodded, accepting the short period of time, and brought her puzzle over as Catherine sat on the edge of the sofa and cleared the remotes and coasters from the slightly sunken surface of the coffee table. Mindful of Joan's safety, Mary had found one with rounded and covered corners when she had first furnished the house. It had turned out to be the perfect size for the small, 24-piece puzzles Joan now enjoyed.

She dumped the box out as Steve headed back for his shower.

"So who is on this puzzle?" Catherine asked, picking up the lid of the box with the picture on it.

Joan leaned against her arm and pointed. "Awiel and Jasmine and Beww and Cindewewwa and Awowa and Tiana and Snow White … aww o' dem!"

"That's a lot of princesses on one puzzle."

Joan nodded. "Yeah, lots o' dem." She looked up at Catherine. "Who's you favowite?"

"Well, let's see, I like Merida …"

"Wike Unca Steve," Joan said, grinning.

Catherine smiled. "Yep. And Mulan. And I like Tiana because she knows that you have to work hard to reach your goals."

"Ohhh." She pushed some of the puzzle pieces toward Catherine. "You can put her togeder den. I do Awiel."

"How about I work on the border pieces while you work on Ariel," Catherine suggested.

"Okay," Joan agreed, looking through the pieces for Ariel's distinctive red hair.

About ten minutes later, the puzzle was done and Catherine leaned back in the sofa, stretching her back. The movement drew Joan's attention.

"Can I feew Nibwet now?" Joan asked, putting her hands on Catherine's belly.

"Oh, she's not moving right now, honey."

"What she doing?"

"She's probably sleeping. She sleeps a lot. Then she moves, then she sleeps some more, then she moves again. All day." She smiled a touch ruefully. "And night."

"Ohhh," Joan said, her eyes widening a bit.

"Hey, how's the puzzle going?" Steve asked as he re-entered the living room.

"Shhh, Unca Steve," Joan said quietly, putting a finger to her mouth. She patted Catherine's belly lightly. "Nibwet's sweeping."

Steve and Catherine both smiled at that.

"It's okay, honey," Catherine said, running a hand over her hair. "Talking won't bother her. But it's very sweet that you want it quiet for Niblet to sleep."

"I wike quiet to sweep," Joan said. "And I wike singing to sweep." Her eyes brightened. "I sing to Nibwet while she sweeping?"

Catherine smiled broadly. "Sure. She'd love that." She glanced up at Steve. "And so would we."

He nodded. "Absolutely."

Steve sat down beside Catherine, working an arm around her shoulders and smiling as Joan leaned down close to Catherine's belly and started to sing.

"Twinkew twinkew, widdle staw, how I wondew what you aw. Up a, up a, wo' so high, wike a diamon' in da sky. Twinkew twinkew, widdle staw, how I wondew what you aww."

When she finished, she looked up and smiled proudly.

"That was wonderful, honey, thank you," Catherine said.

"It was," Steve added. "You can sing to Niblet anytime."

Joan's smile at that could have lit up the room.

* * *

When Steve asked what she wanted to do next, Joan's immediate reply was, "Hide-and-seek!" She jumped off the sofa and pointed at him. "You count fiwst, Unca Steve! I hide!" She hitched up her skirt and started to run out of the room. "You hide, too, Ann Caf!" she called over her shoulder. "Count, Unca Steve. Wike 'One, two, fwee' … wike dat! Den find me!"

Catherine turned to Steve with a teasing smile. "I think this is gonna be your kind of game, Commander."

He grinned back. "What should I count to? Like, twenty?"

She nodded. "That'll work." With a smile, she leaned over and kissed him. "Then find me," she said with a wink.

He chuckled as she got up from the sofa.

"Count, Unca Steve!" came the cry from down the hall.

"I'm counting!" he called back. "One, two, three, four …"

As he continued counting, Catherine walked down the hallway where Joan was practically vibrating with excitement. "I hide in my woom, Ann Caf! You hide in Mama an' Aawon's woom!"

"Shhhh," Catherine said, laughing. "Uncle Steve's gonna hear you."

"Eeeeee!" Joan squealed and darted into her room.

"... twenty!" Steve called. "Here I come!"

"Find me!" Joan cried.

Steve shook his head as he walked down the hall, chuckling. He paused. "Let's see … I wonder if Joan is in here," he said, opening the hall closet opposite her door. "Nope, not in the closet."

Giggles erupted from inside her room.

He stepped inside her room and she shrieked with laughter before he could even say anything else.

"You found me!"

"Well, you were making a little bit of noise," he said with a grin, scooping her up under one arm to her total delight. "Should we go find Aunt Cath?"

"Yes!" she cried. "Ann Caf! Where are you?"

"We gotta look for her," Steve said, walking into the hallway, still holding Joan under one arm. "That's the 'seek' in 'hide-and-seek.' "

"She in Mama an' Aawon's woom!"

Laughing, Steve walked into his sister's room, his well-trained eyes quickly sweeping it. He started for the partially opened closet door, remembering it was closed after Mary and Aaron left, but stopped, correctly guessing that was too deliberate.

He set Joan down, pointing toward the master bathroom instead.

"Ann Caf!" she said, running toward it. She ran into the bathroom. "She not in hewe."

"Are you sure?" Steve asked leadingly as he stepped in as well, purposely keeping his back to the door. "How about … here?" He reached back and nudged the door forward, revealing Catherine behind it.

Joan squealed again, clapping excitedly. "Ann Caf!"

Catherine smiled broadly. "You found me!"

"Unca Steve find you. You hided good."

"Almost got me with that closet door," he said approvingly.

She grinned.

"Now you count, Ann Caf!"

"Okay, you go hide," Catherine said, pulling the door back open so they could go out for another round. She started to count as she walked down the hall toward the living room. "One, two, three …"

"I hide hewe!" Joan said to Steve, going behind the bathroom door. "Wike Ann Caf."

He smiled at that. "Good idea." He started to leave the bathroom.

"Where you hiding, Unca Steve?" Joan asked, peering around the door.

"It's a secret." He put a finger to his lips. "Remember, shhh, or she'll find you fast."

"Eeeeee!" she squealed, going back behind the door.

He quickly left the room and went down the hall, winking at Catherine in the living room as he passed on his way to the kitchen.

"... eighteen, nineteen, twenty!" Catherine cried. "Ready or not, here I come!"

"Find me!" Joan cried.

Catherine snorted. She took her time going down the hallway. "Hmm, where could Joan be?" she asked aloud.

"I'm in hewe!"

Catherine laughed, now shaking with mirth. She went back into Mary and Aaron's bedroom. "Could she be under the bed?"

"No!" came the answer from the bathroom.

Catherine covered her mouth to control her laughter, hysterical tears springing to her eyes.

"She must be in here somewhere," she said when she'd calmed enough to speak again.

"Hewe!" Joan said, jumping out from behind the bathroom door. "You find me!"

"You … are a very silly girl," Catherine said, bending to tickle her, face bright with amusement.

Joan giggled merrily. "I so siwwy!"

"Will you help me find Uncle Steve?"

"Yes!" Joan cried, grabbing her hand and dragging her into the hallway. "Where is he?"

"I don't know, but I think he went this way," Catherine said, pointing toward the kitchen.

Joan let go of her hand to run ahead. "Unca Steve! Where are you?"

"Do you think he's in the cabinets?" Catherine asked, pointing.

Joan looked, cocking her head to the side as she studied him. "No," she said finally. "He too big."

"You're right, he is. So where could he be?"

"I don't dink he's in hewe."

"Are you sure?" Catherine asked, knowing Steve was on the other side of the full length cabinet next to the refrigerator and across from the door to the garage. "Maybe he went outside," she suggested.

"Outside?"

"Maybe he's in the garage."

Joan ran toward the door. "Unca Steve?" As she ran past the cabinet, she caught sight of him in her periphery and jumped, startled. "Unca Steve!"

"You found me, Joanie!" he said, lifting her up to soothe the momentary scare.

His tactic work; she squealed happily. "You hide in hewe! I didn't know you hide in hewe!"

"Was that a good hiding place?"

"Yeah!" she cried, nodding rapidly.

"Is it your turn to count now?" he asked.

"My turn! My turn! I count!" She wriggled to get down and immediately covered her eyes with both hands. "You hide!"

Steve and Catherine both headed off to hide as Joan started to count.

"Won, two, fwee, fo-wa, five, six, seben, eight, nine, ten … weben … fo-teen, five-teen, sixteen, sebenteen, eighteen, nineteen … twenty!" She uncovered her eyes with a flourish and looked around. "Where are you?" she called.

When there was no answer, she ran down the hallway.

"Unca Steve! Ann Caf! Where are you?"

She went into her bedroom and squealed when she saw Catherine standing inside her closet, purposely easy to spot.

"I find you! I find you! You in my woom, Ann Caf!"

"You found me! Good job!"

"Where's Unca Steve?"

"Let's go find him," Catherine said.

Joan took her hand and stayed close, clearly not wanting to be startled again but wanting to keep playing.

"Unca Steve!" she called as they walked down the hall.

"Let's look in the bathroom," Catherine suggested.

Joan tugged her hand and raised her arms to be picked up.

Catherine lifted her, settling the smaller-than-average girl on her hip as she stepped into the bathroom.

"He hewe?" Joan asked.

Catherine gasped lightly and pointed at the bathtub. "Look!"

Joan beamed. "Unca Steve! You in da baftub! Dat's siwwy."

"Silly, huh?" he asked, stepping out of the tub.

"Yeah," she said, grinning.

"Do you want to keep playing?" Catherine asked.

Joan nodded eagerly. "Unca Steve, you count."

"Okay, go hide," he said, heading into the hallway.

"Should we hide together?" Catherine asked.

Joan's face lit up and she nodded. "Yes! Yes!"

Catherine set her down and they went into the hall. "Let's go in here," she said, pointing to the guest room she and Steve used.

"Let's hide under da bed!" Joan cried.

Catherine chuckled. "I don't think I can get under there right now, but you can. I'll hide in the closet."

"Okay!" She lay down on her stomach and scooted under the bed, turning around so she was facing the closet and could see Catherine through the partially closed door.

They heard Steve's voice call, "Here I come!"

"Shhhh," Catherine whispered before Joan could cry out.

Joan clapped her hands over her mouth, giggling under the bed. As they heard Steve getting closer, she scrambled out and ran into the closet as well, pulling the door closed loudly, causing Catherine to shake her head, smiling.

Steve came in and made a show of looking in drawers, under the bedcovers, and under the bed, announcing each "guess." Joan held her hands over her mouth but her giggling was still clearly audible. She looked up at Catherine and finally broke. "We hewe!" she cried, opening the door and jumping out.

"Whoa!" Steve exclaimed with exaggerated surprise. "You were in there the whole time?"

"Yes!" Joan squealed, jumping.

"Good hiding," he said.

"We hide again?" she asked, dancing a little in place in a familiar way.

"I think it's lunch time," Catherine said. "And you need to go potty. I can tell."

Joan looked sheepish and nodded.

"Go on," Catherine urged. "Then we'll eat."

"Cheese and cwackers!" Joan yelled as she ran toward the bathroom.

Catherine grinned at Steve. "Enjoy that, Commander?"

He nodded with a little shrug. "I've always liked hide-and-seek. I remember playing with my dad when I was Joanie's age."

She smiled softly, squeezing his hand.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Though I don't think I used to yell out 'Find me' and 'I'm in here' when I was that age."

"Just because you were stealthy even at four …" she chided, thoroughly amused.

He smirked in response as they headed out of the room to fix lunch.

* * *

After Joan finished her crackers, cheese, and most of an apple, Steve and Catherine both read her a book in her room before leaving her alone for her quiet time and their mini-break.

They were sitting on the sofa relaxing when Steve's phone buzzed with an incoming call. He saw it was Mary so answered and put it on speaker.

"Hey, Mare," he said.

"Hi, Mary," echoed Catherine.

" _Hey, how are things going?_ "

"All good here," Steve said. "Joanie's in her room looking at books."

" _Ahh, quiet time, great._ "

"Yeah, actually, there was one thing I wanted to ask you about," he continued, glancing at Catherine. His face took on a look of concern. "She came into our room early this morning crying and we're not sure why."

" _Ohh, I'm sorry,_ " Mary said. " _God, I probably should've guessed._ " She sighed. " _She used to come into our room like that a couple times a week. We figured she woke up from a bad dream or something but she'd never say. She usually just needs a little snuggle and she falls back to sleep and is fine. But she hasn't done it in over a month so I didn't think about it. I should've known us being gone might cause it to happen again. I'm sorry._ "

"Oh, don't apologize," Catherine said. "We're just glad she's okay. I wish she hadn't been upset, of course, but I definitely didn't mind the snuggles." She smiled. "Or waking up with her little arm curled around my neck."

Steve smiled softly, remembering waking up to that very sweet sight and wanting to memorize the moment, then realizing he'd be seeing similar scenes very soon with their own daughter.

" _But otherwise everything is going fine?_ " Mary asked.

"Totally," Steve said. "We did some puzzles this morning, then hide-and-seek before lunch …"

" 'Find me!' " Mary mimicked Joan's excited little voice calling out.

They laughed.

" _What's the plan for the afternoon?_ " she asked.

"We thought we'd take a trip to the bookstore and pick out a book as an Easter gift," Catherine replied.

" _You guys spoil her,_ " Mary said.

"We do not," Steve protested.

" _Just remember, my turn's coming soon._ "

"Now you sound like Danny."

" _Ha! I believe it._ "

"How are you doing?" Catherine asked. "You guys enjoying yourself?"

" _Yeah, it's been fun. I went to the bridal shower yesterday with Sue and Alyssa,_ " she said, referring to Aaron's mother and sister. " _I thought it would be awkward, I've never really met any of his other family, but it wasn't. They were all really nice._ "

Catherine and Steve both smiled, pleased that Mary was finding more family and had the confidence to embrace them.

" _I should really go, we're leaving for the ceremony in, like, a half hour, and my hair is ridiculous._ "

Catherine laughed and Steve snorted.

" _Aaron went to buy hairspray because I forgot mine. Of course he was ready in five minutes._ "

Steve nodded approvingly. "Sounds about right."

Catherine rolled her eyes, smiling at him. "Okay, have a great time," she said to Mary.

" _You guys, too. We'll find a place to Skype for a minute before Joan's bedtime._ "

"Okay, sounds good," Steve said.

" _Love you both. Bye._ "

"Love you," Catherine said.

"Bye," Steve added before ending the call. He looked at Catherine. "Sounds like she's having a good time."

She nodded. "I'm glad. I know she was worried about meeting all of Aaron's extended family."

"But not as worried as she would have been once. Before she got close to your parents and Grandma Ang," he said, his eyes showing how very much he appreciated how they had accepted his sister without a second thought. Just as they had with him.

She smiled and reached for his hand, squeezing it gently.

"So what do we got?" he asked, glancing at his watch. "About fifteen more minutes?"

She huffed a laugh. "Yep. Just enough time for a quick rest," she said, shifting and leaning back against him.

He chuckled. "Don't close your eyes," he said, even as he settled more comfortably into the sofa. "You won't want to open them again."

"Fifteen minutes …"

* * *

"Dey have aww da books!" Joan cried as she reached the top of the escalator in Steve's arms. Once he'd stepped off, she wriggled to get down and headed right for the bright Easter book display at the front of the children's section. "Bunnies!"

Steve and Catherine reached the display but she had already moved on, distracted by the sight of books with her favorite princesses on an endcap.

"Dis a Awiel book!" she said, picking it up to show them. "See it?"

"I see," Catherine said. "Let's look around a bit and see what we can find."

"Da twain!" Joan exclaimed and ran for the wooden train set by the far wall.

"I got her," Steve said. "You wanna look around for a bit?"

Catherine nodded. "Yeah."

They headed in opposite directions, Catherine back toward the large display of picture books on the back wall, and Steve over to the train set where Joan had grabbed one of the trains and was running it along the track.

"Choo choo!" she said happily. Spotting him, she stopped and grinned. "See da twain, Unca Steeve? It go wond and wond and wond."

"I see that, you're making it go around the track. Nice job."

"Dere's a car. You want it?" she asked, holding it up toward him.

"Let's leave it on the road there in case another kid wants to play."

A boy who looked about five walked up at that moment accompanied by a woman a little younger than Steve. "There you go, Henry," she said.

"Do you wanna play trains?" he asked Joan.

She nodded. "You can have da bwue one," she said, holding it out to him.

"That's Thomas," he said.

"Who's dis?" she asked, picking up the red train.

"That's James."

"James," she repeated, trying the name out. She smiled approvingly. "Wet's pway wif dem."

"Yeah!"

They started rolling the trains along the track, one behind the other, going faster and faster until they were just running around the set instead.

"Hey, hey, Joanie, slow down," Steve said.

"Yes, Henry, don't run, please," the woman said. "You don't want to fall."

"Okay, Mommy," he said.

As Joan and Henry went back to playing, the woman flashed a quick smile at Steve. "I'm amazed there's only two kids here, usually it's a mob around the trains."

"I'll bet," Steve said, smiling back.

About five minutes later, Catherine joined them, book in hand.

Sara, Henry's mother, smiled at them, then looked at Joan. "Ohh, it looks like you're getting a baby brother or sister soon, huh, Joan?"

Joan looked up at her curiously.

"She means Niblet, hon," Catherine explained, running a hand over her belly for emphasis.

Joan smiled at the reminder. "Nibwet in Ann Caf's tummy. She my cousin."

"That's right," Steve said.

Sara smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry. Congratulations. Your first?"

They nodded.

"We're spending the weekend with our niece," Catherine said.

"Ohhh," Sara smiled knowingly. "Getting some practice in. Good idea." She glanced at Joan who had gone back to the trains. "She is a darling."

"Thank you." Catherine looked at Joan. "It's time to go, hon. I found a good book for us to take home."

"I see it?" Joan asked.

Catherine held it out. "It's called _Egg_."

"It have biwdies on dere!" Joan said as she took the book and looked at the birds on the cover with the large egg.

"Yeah, birdies. Should we it take it home?"

Joan nodded eagerly. "Yes!"

"Okay, let's go pay. And Niblet and I are getting a little hungry, so maybe we can have a treat in the café downstairs," she added, waggling her eyebrows with a smile.

"A tweat!" Joan cried. "Wet's go!"

"Say goodbye to your friend there," Catherine said smiling at Henry.

Joan waved enthusiastically. "Bye-bye!" She took off running and Steve and Catherine quickly moved to follow, exchanging hurried goodbyes with Sara as Henry called out his own farewell before turning back to the trains.

Joan had waited a few feet back from the escalator, too nervous to try it on her own. She lifted her arms for Steve to pick her up and they rode it down and headed to the cash registers.

When it was their turn, Joan insisted on passing the money to the cashier who found her completely adorable and said as much. After they paid, they started toward the café, Joan now walking, though Catherine had a hold of her hand so she didn't get too far ahead.

Steve's phone buzzed with a text.

"I've gotta check on this," he said after reading it.

Catherine nodded.

"You two go ahead and eat," he said. "I'll meet you over there in a few."

"Okay. Do you want us to save you some?"

He smiled, touching her back briefly. "No, don't worry about it, thank you."

"Let's go," Catherine said, smiling at Joan, and walked toward the café.

Joan glanced back over her shoulder at Steve as he stepped outside. "Where Unca Steve going?"

"He's going to make a phone call. It's okay, he'll be back in a few minutes. Come on, let's go pick out our treat."

After several minutes of indecision over the many delicious-looking desserts in the case, Joan picked a piece of Oreo cake for them to share.

Steve returned as they were eating and pulled another chair up to the small round table so he could sit between them.

"Hey, that looks pretty good," he said. "What'd ya get?"

"Oweo cake," Joan said, her face covered in chocolate.

"Can I have a little piece?"

Joan bit her lip, looking at her plate. Finally she picked up a small crumb of the chocolatey graham cracker crust and held it out to him, smiling proudly. "Hewe, Unca Steve."

He snorted as he took it. "Gee, thanks, Joanie."

She continued smiling as she took another bite, oblivious to his amused sarcasm.

Catherine chuckled. "You did ask for a 'little.' And you should know by now not to come between a girl and her chocolate, Commander." She offered a forkful from her own plate to him.

"Oh yeah, what's this for, then?" he asked and ate the bite off her fork.

She shrugged, grinning. "I married you. I think that means I have to share my chocolate every once in a while."

His lip quirked in a smile. "I don't remember that in the vows, but … it has been almost a year." He leaned in for a quick kiss.

Joan grinned, raising her fork in the air, and cried, "Mawwied!"

* * *

They played outside for a while we they got back to the house, then Steve once again went to make dinner.

While he was in the kitchen, Catherine and Joan sat on the sofa to read her new book.

"How many birds do you see, hon?" Catherine asked as they looked at the cover.

Joan pointed as she counted. "One, two, fwee biwdies!"

"That's right. And what color birds do you see?"

Joan pointed again. "Bink, yewwow, bwue!"

"Yes! And what about this big egg?" Catherine asked, touching it with a finger.

"Gween!"

Catherine smiled, raising her eyebrows curiously. "What do you think's inside the green egg?"

Joan looked up at her with wide eyes and shook her head slowly. "I don't knooow."

"Shall we open up the book and find out?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" She helped open the front cover and turned to the first page. "Mow eggs!"

"Yes, more eggs! They're very colorful eggs." She looked at her niece. "Like the ones you made for Easter last year at our house. Do you remember? With Uncle Steve and Uncle Danny and Jacob and Kaitlyn."

"And Cammie!"

Catherine grinned. "That's right."

Joan nodded seriously. "We spiwl." She held her hands out plaintively. "Uh oh."

Catherine chuckled. "Yes, you were all pretty dye-colored when we go back from dress shopping."

"I make biiink eggs. Wif spawkwies," she said, smiling broadly.

"You did have some sparkly jewels on yours, good memory, hon."

"We make eggs 'gain?"

"Not this year. But we are going to look for some eggs in your yard tomorrow after your mama and Aaron get back."

"In da yard?"

"Yep." She smiled as Joan looked toward the window. "You'll see." She brought her attention back to the book, pointing to the illustrations as she said, "Oh, look, the eggs are starting to crack!"

Joan's eyes widened. "Oh no!"

Catherine turned the page and gasped. "Look! Baby birds!"

Joan mimicked her gasp with a happy, surprised smile. "Da biwdies!" She flipped back to the front cover. "Dose biwdies!"

"That's right." She turned back to the page. "They came out of those eggs. The pink bird came out of the pink egg, the yellow bird came out of the yellow egg, and the blue bird came out of the blue egg."

"What 'bout dis one?" Joan asked, pointing to the unhatched green egg.

"I don't know. What do you think is in there?"

Joan's forehead creased as she thought hard. "A gween biwdie?"

Catherine smiled at her logical deduction. "Maybe. That's a very good guess. Let's see if you're right." She pointed to the next page. "Here's the birds flying away, but that green egg is still there."

"When da biwdie gonna come owt?"

"I don't know, let's keep reading."

Joan turned the page. "Ohh, lots mow eggs," she said, looking at the many small squares on the page, each with a green egg inside.

"I think this is supposed to show the same egg waiting, waiting, waiting to hatch," Catherine said, indicating the word "waiting" under each egg. She turned the page. "Oh! The birds are coming back."

"Dey huuuug the egg," Joan said, pointing to picture of the three birds listening. "Dey wuv it."

Catherine smiled. "You think they love it?"

Joan nodded definitively. "Yeah, dey do."

"They're listening to see if they hear anything inside." She turned the page. "Oh! They're pecking the egg."

"Why dey pecking?"

"I think they're trying to help it hatch."

Joan pointed to the opposite page with multiple pictures of the birds pecking the egg. "Peck peck peck peck peck peck peck."

Catherine smiled and turned the page. "More pecking. Peck-peck-peck."

"Where da biwdies go?"

"I think this is from inside the egg." She pointed to the opposite page. "Now we're on the outside again. There are the birds. Ohh, look. The egg is cracking."

Joan gasped. "What's habbening?"

"Let's see if someone is trying to come out."

Joan turned the page and gasped.

" 'Surprise!' " Catherine read.

"It's a awwigator!" Joan exclaimed. "And awwigator's in dat egg!"

"Oh my goodness, what a surprise!" Catherine said, though of course she'd scanned the whole book at the store. "But look, he's green like the egg."

"Yeah, he gween."

Catherine pointed to the opposite page. "Oh no, the birds are flying away."

"Dey scawed?" Joan asked, looking at their expressions in concern.

"I think so."

Joan curled up close to Catherine's side. "Dat awwigator is a widdle scawy," she admitted.

Catherine turned the page. "Oh, look, he's sad now. Do you think he's lonely?"

Joan nodded. "He has no fwiends."

Catherine read the words on the panel illustrations. "' Alone, sad, lonely, miserable.' Ohh, poor alligator."

"Ohh. Po' awwigator," Joan echoed.

Catherine turned the page and gasped. "Look! The birds are coming back."

Joan sat up, eyes wide. "Dey not scawed anymore!"

Catherine turned another page. "Ohh, they're going to ride on his back."

"Dey fwiends now!" Joan said happily. She turned the page quickly to see what happened next. "Dey swimming!"

"And there's the sun." Catherine turned the page. "Ohh, or is that another egg?" She looked at Joan. "What do you think?"

"It's a egg. Dere's anodder awwigator in dere."

"You think so? Let's see …" She turned the page.

Joan gasped. "A owange biwdie!"

"Wow!" Catherine exclaimed, smiling at Joan's reaction. She closed to back cover. "That was a pretty good book, huh? Did you like it?"

"I wike it!" Joan said immediately. "I wead it again!" She pulled it fully onto her own lap and opened it, flipping the pages. Suddenly, she squirmed off the sofa. "I show Unca Steve!" She ran into the kitchen with the book. "Unca Steve, Unca Steve, dere an awwigator in dis book!"

Steve looked up from making grilled cheese sandwiches on a countertop griddle. "An alligator?"

"But he not scawy, he niiice," Joan assured him.

"Oh, a nice alligator." He glanced up to see Catherine joining them and smiled at her.

"Dey fwiends!" Joan said eagerly. "Dey wide on his back and swim!"

"That sounds like a great book."

Joan nodded, grinning. "I wike it all the time."

He smiled. "And what about grilled cheese? Do you like that all the time, too? Cause it's almost ready."

"Yes! Yes!"

"Okay, then let's get your hands washed," Catherine said.

"Okay!"

* * *

After dinner they were able to have a short Skype with Mary and Aaron from outside the reception hall. The two weren't planning to stay at the reception too late as they had an early flight in the morning because they wanted to get home to celebrate Easter.

Steve, Catherine, and Joan played half a game of Candy Land, then watched the rest of the _Sofia the First_ episode they'd started the previous night. Though Joan asked about "bobco'n," Catherine told her not tonight because of the rich dessert from the bookstore. Therefore only one round of teeth brushing was necessary after she put her pajamas on.

They got her settled in bed, each reading her one book after she had "read" _Egg_ to them again. Hugs and kisses were exchanged, and Joan fell happily asleep.

Steve and Catherine tried to sit up on the couch, but didn't even last an hour before they headed for their own room.

"It's 20:15," Steve said, chuckling as he lay on his back in bed. He looked over at Catherine. "How are we in bed at 20:15?"

She grinned. "Because we have been at the beck and call of a three-year-old for the last two days and we're not exactly used to that."

"Almost four-year-old," he corrected as Joan always did, grinning back.

" 'Fo-wa,' " Catherine imitated, chuckling.

" 'Fo-wa,' " he repeated, laughing as well.

They shifted closer as their laughter faded, exchanging lazy kisses. It wasn't long before they grew more heated. Steve grasped her hip, and she pressed as close as she could.

Breaking the kiss, he glanced over his shoulder toward the door. They'd left it partially open again so they could hear if Joan needed anything. All was quiet in the house.

"What do you think?" he asked, looking back at her and running his tongue over his lower lip. "Stay mostly dressed and under the covers?"

"That's probably all we have the energy for." She grinned. "We are supposed to be practicing after all."

His answering grin was only visible for a split second before he dove back for her lips once again.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Note:** The final chapter will post on Sunday as a bonus!

 **Joan's new book:**

 _Egg_ by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow, 2017)

 _Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll_

 _Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net_

 _Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com_

 _You can still join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with Add me, please! in the subject line._

 _And find Mari on Twitter asking your opinions on all things McRoll in the REAL World! at Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller_


	3. Already a Family

**Notes:** Mari and Sammy – Thank you for indulging me with the story that just kept growing. And for popping in anytime day or night, even when you're sick or have company over! Love you both.

Readers and REAL McRollers – Thank you, as well, for indulging me with this mini-monster. I've really enjoyed writing it, and I hope you've enjoyed reading it.

Happy Easter and Happy Passover to everyone celebrating this past week from the REAL World writers!

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _Weekend with Joanie (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

 _Chapter 3: Already a Family_

 **Sunday, April 16**

Early Easter morning, Steve's phone alarm beeped and he quickly reached to silence it. Catherine rolled over, sighing.

"Mmmmm, already?" she asked, blinking her eyes open.

Steve sat up. "Yeah, I wanna get the eggs hidden before Joanie gets up, that way she won't be curious why I'm in the backyard."

She smiled at his obvious desire to make the egg hunt a special memory for Joan.

"You can sleep a little longer," he said, leaning over to kiss her briefly and placing a gentle hand on her belly to greet Niblet.

"I'm not gonna say no to that," she said, smiling sleepily. "I'm still exhausted from yesterday. If she comes in, I'll keep her with me to maintain maximum secrecy," she added with a wink.

He chuckled and kissed her again. "Okay." He stood, digging through his duffel for a t-shirt. He pulled it on as he headed for the hallway.

"Steve," she called after him quietly. A small smile graced her face. "Don't hide them too well. Remember Joan and Avery are only four."

He paused. "Maybe just a couple hard ones," he said, the corner of his mouth lifting in his trademark grin. "You know, for a challenge," he added before he disappeared down the hall, leaving her laughing lightly as she closed her eyes again.

* * *

Steve had come back inside, egg mission accomplished, and showered by the time Joan woke up. Catherine had already showered, and they were currently in the kitchen preparing an Easter casserole for brunch when Joan came out of her room carrying Comfort Bunny and smiling.

Catherine spotted her first as Steve was gathering ingredients from the refrigerator. "Good morning, honey. Did you have a good sleep?"

She nodded. "When Mama and Aawon coming?" she asked, clearly remembering being told last night that they would be back in the morning.

"Pretty soon," Steve said, shutting the refrigerator and depositing a ham on the counter. He came over to Joan and picked her up, kissing her cheek before sitting her on an empty corner of the counter and bracketing her with his arms. "Do you want to help us make the casserole for later?"

Her face brightened and she nodded eagerly, smiling up at him. "I hewp Mama and Aawon wots o' times."

He kissed her head. "I'll bet you do."

"Here's your water, honey," Catherine said, coming over with one of Joan's many princess cups partially filled with water.

She dropped her bunny and drank greedily.

"How about a little toast for breakfast?" Catherine asked. "We don't want to eat too much because we're going to have a bigger meal when your mama and Aaron and everybody gets home."

Joan swallowed a gulp and looked at her curiously. "Evewybody?"

"Yep, your grandma Sue and grandpa Ramon, and your aunt Alyssa and uncle Paul and cousin Avery are coming for Easter brunch."

Joan's face lit up. "Avewy coming?" She grinned. "I wike Avewy. We pway aww da time."

"Yeah, he's your play time buddy, huh?" Steve said with a smile.

Joan nodded, drinking from her cup again.

"So about that toast?" Catherine asked.

"Yes!"

"Yes, what?" Catherine prompted, smiling.

"Yes, pwease!"

"With peanut butter?"

"And honey!" When Catherine quirked an eyebrow, she added, "Pwease."

Catherine smiled. "Coming right up."

"How 'bout we get your hands washed?" Steve asked, gently taking her cup and setting it down. He lifted Joan and brought her over to the sink.

"I do it wif my step," Joan said, pulling her hands back and wriggling to get down when he reached to turn on the water.

"I can just hold you," he offered. "It'll only take a minute."

"I want my step," she insisted.

Catherine snorted lightly as she put a piece of bread in the toaster, and Steve sighed, setting Joan down.

"Okay, okay, I'll get your step stool."

Joan danced a little in place while he got the small step stool from its spot between the fridge and partial wall. She ran over to get Comfort Bunny and thrust the stuffed animal at Steve once he'd set up the stool.

"You howd Bun pwease," she said. "So he don't get wet."

"Okay, I'll hold him so he doesn't get wet." He stood close and put out a hand when she reached for it to steady her as she climbed up the two steps to reach the sink.

"Not too hot," she told him as he turned on the water.

"Okay."

He stayed close as she washed her hands with a little soap and turned off the water when she was done.

"I need a towel," she said, holding her wet hands out away from her body.

"Here, honey," Catherine said, handing her a hand towel that was draped over a drawer. "Go ahead and sit down, I'll bring your toast over when it's ready."

Joan took Steve's hand again to step down one step then jump down to the floor. She marched over to the table singing, "We have toast, toast, toast. We eat da toast, toast, toast."

When it was done, Catherine brought half over to her on a plate. "Do you want more water? Or some milk?"

"Miwk, pwease."

"I got it," Steve said.

"In a pwincess cup, Unca Steve," Joan said.

He chuckled, looking in the cabinet. "I don't think you have any other choices up here, Joanie. Do you want any particular princess?"

"Mmm," Joan considered carefully. "Awiel."

"Okay," he said, closing one eye and scanning the cups. "Ariel is … the mermaid."

"She not awways a mewmaid, Unca Steve. She have wegs, too."

"Yep, I remember, she's got legs sometimes."

"You find her?"

"I found her." He set the cup down and went to the fridge for some milk.

"Here's your vitamin," Catherine said, opening the jar of Disney Princess Multi-Vitamin Gummies.

"Can I have da Awiel one?"

Catherine raised an eyebrow as she tipped a few into her palm. "Kinda hard to tell with these." She plucked one up. "That looks like Ariel." She handed it to Joan who examined it herself before nodding, satisfied, and popping it in her mouth. "Okay, eat up," Catherine said as she recapped the vitamins and started to move back to the kitchen.

"You sit wif me, Ann Caf?"

"I'll just be right there cutting up the ham," Catherine said, pointing to the counter.

"Pweeeeease?" Joan asked plaintively.

Catherine sighed, but couldn't help smiling.

"I'll work on the ham," Steve said. "How much do we need?"

"Two cups. It's on the tablet there," she said, indicating the device propped up on the counter as she took a seat next to Joan.

He woke the screen up and scanned the recipe before washing his hands and pulling a knife from the drawer.

"What's Unca Steve doing?" Joan asked.

"He's cutting the ham for the casserole," Catherine replied.

"What's a cassewo'?"

Catherine tapped the table near her plate. "Take a bite, please. A casserole is a dish with lots of things mixed in and put in the oven. This one has ham and cheese and mushrooms and bread and milk and eggs."

"Ohhh," Joan said after swallowing a bite of toast.

"And I bet you, Miss Picky Eater, are not even going to try it," Catherine said, giving her a little tickle.

Joan giggled, scrunching away from her fingers. "I picky and poky," she said matter-of-factly.

Catherine laughed. "Yes, you are."

* * *

Once Joan was finished with her toast, the casserole was almost ready to go in the fridge until it was time to bake it. Standing on her step stool, she got to help hold the bowl of milk, eggs, and seasonings as they poured the mixture over the ham, cheese, mushrooms, and bread already in the casserole dish. Then she helped press foil over the dish before Steve put it in the fridge.

"Let's check on the laundry," Catherine said. "I bet the towels are ready to fold. Do you want to help?"

Joan nodded eagerly. "I fowd wike dis," she said and demonstrated by holding her hands open and then closing them together.

Catherine grinned. "That's great."

"Okay, I'm gonna strip our bed while you're doing that so we can throw the sheets in next," Steve said, heading for their room.

"What's Unca Steve doing?" Joan asked, following Catherine to the small laundry room off the kitchen.

"He's going to take the sheets off our bed so we can wash them. That way your mama and Aaron don't have quite as much laundry to do when they get home."

"I hewp him!" Joan cried happily and ran after Steve.

By the time she reached the guest room, he had already put the duvet in the corner and taken the top sheet off.

"I hewe, Unca Steve! I hewp you."

He grinned and gently tossed part of the sheet over her head, chuckling at her delighted giggles.

"Oh yeah? How you gonna help me from under there?"

Shrieking happily, she batted at the sheet until she got it off her head and grinned toothily at him, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Unca Steve!" she chided, putting her hands out her hips in a perfect imitation of her mother.

Still grinning, he directed her to the corner of the bed. "Okay, pull that corner off," he said, demonstrating with the opposite side. "Now the top ones." Once they'd gotten all the corners off, he tossed the fitted sheet to the floor on top of the other one.

"I cawwy dem!" Joan announced, trying to pick both up.

"Wait, wait, wait," he said. "You're gonna trip yourself. Here." He quickly removed both pillowcases. "Take these."

He handed her the pillowcases and picked up the sheets himself.

"Let's go," he said. "To the laundry room."

"Wet's go!" she echoed, marching down the hallway.

They passed the living room where Catherine was folding towels and washcloths out of a laundry basket on the sofa.

"I hewping, Ann Caf!" Joan told her, holding up the pillowcases.

"I see," Catherine said, smiling warmly. "Good job helping."

They reached the laundry room and Joan pushed the pillow cases at Steve's leg. "I can't weach, you put dem in dere." They fell to the ground. "I hewp Ann Caf!" she said, already running back toward the living room.

Steve joined them after starting the load of sheets. Catherine had most of the towels folded while Joan was diligently working on the washcloths, folding them every which way and stacking them in a precarious pile.

"I fowding dem, Unca Steve," she said proudly. "See?"

"That's a good job folding, Joanie." He grabbed the last towel from the basket and began to fold it.

Something caught Joan's eye in the backyard and she dropped the washcloth in her hand, running to the window. She gasped, spotting several brightly colored plastic eggs all around the yard. "Eggs! Dere are eggs owt dere!"

She ran out of the living room and toward the sunroom and the backdoor.

"Wait, wait," Catherine called as they followed her. "We've gotta wait for Mama and Aaron and everyone to come."

"Then you and Avery can go find all the eggs," Steve said.

Joan pulled on the locked backdoor. "I go owt dere!" she insisted. "I want to see dem!"

"We've gotta wait," Catherine said again.

Joan bounced from one foot to the other anxiously. "But … but I want to go owt dere," she said, starting to pout.

"Joanie, it wouldn't be fair if you got to go out there first before Avery got here," Steve said. "And your mom and Aaron and everyone will want to see you find the eggs."

As her lip started to tremble, Catherine said, "How about we go do some coloring at the table? That way you can see when Mama and Aaron get home." She stepped closer and held out her hand encouragingly.

Joan slowly reached up and took it. She allowed Catherine to lead her away, glancing back out the windows as she did.

"Pretty soon," Steve promised. "You'll get to find the eggs pretty soon."

* * *

They convinced Joan to get dressed and then set out coloring pages and crayons at the dining room table so they had a good view out the front window. Joan insisted all three have a page to color.

"Why da budderfwy on da fwower, Ann Caf?" Joan asked as she used a pink crayon on her page, only going slightly out of the lines.

"Well, butterflies get their food from flowers, right?" Catherine said, coloring her own page full of flowers.

"No," Joan said, shaking her head.

Catherine raised her eyebrows. "No?"

"No, dey don't eat da fwowers."

Catherine glanced over at Steve, exchanging a quick smile. "Then what do butterflies eat?"

"Cupcakes," Joan said definitively.

Catherine chuckled. "Cupcakes?" She smiled. "That's my kind of butterfly."

"You've got some interesting ideas about what animals and insects eat, don't you, Joanie?" Steve said with a wry smile.

She grinned back.

Just then Steve spotted Aaron's car pulling into the driveway. He set his crayon down. "Hey, look who's home."

Joan's head snapped to the window and she squealed. "Mama!" She threw her crayon down and climbed out of her chair, running for the garage door.

"Shoes, Joan," Catherine called as they stood to follow her.

It took Joan longer than normal to slide her feet into her pink Crocs because she was bouncing so much in anticipation of seeing her mother and Aaron again.

Steve opened the door and Joan fairly burst outside, running toward them as they got out of the car.

"Mama!" she cried. "Aawon!"

"Peanut!" Mary knelt to scoop her up as Joan came barreling toward her. "Ohhhh, I missed your silly face." She peppered her face with kisses before Joan wrapped her arms tightly around her neck.

Aaron joined them. "Hey, pumpkin, do I get a hug, too?"

She reached for him and he took her from Mary, kissing her head.

"You hewe!"

"Did you have fun with Uncle Steve and Aunt Catherine?" Mary asked.

Joan nodded, leaning back toward her. Mary settled her on her hip, smiling at Steve and Catherine.

"We cowowing, Mama. I cowow budderfwies, and Ann Caf cowow fwowers, and Unca Steve cowow twees."

"You're coloring," Mary repeated, stressing the "l" and "r" sounds.

Joan nodded. "Can we find da eggs now?" she asked hopefully.

"Remember, we've gotta wait till Avery gets here," Steve said.

"Yeah, Grandma Sue and Grandpa Ramon and Aunt Alyssa and Uncle Paul and Avery are coming as soon as they pick Avery up from his other grandparents' house."

"Dey coming soon?" Joan asked.

"Pretty soon," Mary promised. "Let's go inside so you can tell us all about what you did with Uncle Steve and Aunt Cath, okay?"

"Yeah!" Joan cried. "We pway hide-and-seek and I hide and dey find me!"

"You _hid_ and they _found_ you," Mary said. "Was it fun?"

Joan nodded eagerly as Mary started to walk back to the house with her and Catherine while Steve stayed back to help Aaron bring their bags inside.

* * *

"Dey hewe!" Joan cried from her spot by the front window waiting not-so patiently for the rest of the Easter brunch party to arrive. "I see Avewy! He hewe!"

She ran to the center of the kitchen and called again. "Dey hewe!"

Mary, Aaron, Steve, and Catherine came out of the living room to join her as the garage door opened and a couple in their late fifties came in, followed by a younger couple and a boy about Joan's age.

"Avewy! Dere are eggs owtside!" Joan said.

"Yeah!" he replied, beaming. "You and me gonna find 'em!"

"How about hello hugs and kisses first, peanut?" Mary said.

"Happy Easter!" the woman, Susan Reyes, said with a warm smile. "How are you, sweetheart?"

Joan gave a little squeal and hugged her as she bent down. She kissed the man next to Susan.

"Nieta," a grinning Ramon Reyes said. "Are you ready to find those eggs?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Eggs?" the younger man, Paul Jackson teased. "Why would there be eggs in the yard?"

"The Easter Bunny!" his son reminded him.

"Ohh right."

"Yeah, I think this Easter Bunny was the stealthiest one yet," Mary said wryly with a sidelong glance at her brother.

Alyssa Jackson smiled, coming over to them and holding out a hand. "I'm Alyssa. It's so great to finally meet you. We have heard so much about you."

"Good to meet you, too," Steve said, shaking her head. "I'm Steve, this is my wife Catherine."

"Oh, I know," she said, smiling. "And you've got little Niblet on the way, and Cammie at home. I've seen so many pictures of that pretty girl."

Catherine smiled broadly. "Thank you. We're definitely missing her. She's staying with our niece Grace and Steve's partner Danny."

"Paul Jackson," Alyssa's husband introduced himself as he shook Steve and Catherine's hands. "Great to meet you. Congratulations on the baby."

"Thank you," Steve said, returning the smile.

" 'Lyssa's right, we have heard so much about you," Susan said as she and Ramon also shook their hands. "It's so wonderful to finally meet you."

"You, too," Catherine said genuinely.

"He is _tall_ ," Avery stated, looking up at Steve wide-eyed.

They chuckled at his fascination.

"What's with boys and the height thing?" Steve asked. "Jacob did the same thing." He grinned and looked down at Avery. "You know apparently my feet are pretty big, too."

Avery looked at them and gasped. "Whoa! Daddy, look at his feet!"

Paul couldn't hold in a snort at that. "He has a name, Avery. This is Mr. Steve, can you say hi?"

"Hi," Avery dutifully said.

"Hey, buddy, you ready to find some eggs?" Steve asked.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed. "Mommy, I need my basket!"

"I've got it," Alyssa said, handing him his fuzzy _Paw Patrol_ basket.

"Ohhh," Joan said, petting the Chase head. "I wike dis basket." She looked at Mary. "Mama, where my basket?"

"Up here," Mary said, opening the full length cabinet by the fridge.

Joan jumped excitedly when she saw the pink plush basket designed to look like a carriage with a picture of Ariel, Belle, and Rapunzel on the front, reaching both hands up for it.

"Guess who picked this out herself?" Mary teased.

"I picked it at da stow," Joan said.

"We would have never guessed," Ramon said with a wink.

Aaron laughed as the two kids compared baskets. "I guess we're doing the egg hunt first."

* * *

"Okay, are you ready?" Mary asked, holding the handle of the sunroom door that led to the backyard.

"Ready!" Avery said.

"Open it, Mama!" Joan cried.

"Here we go!" Mary opened the door and the two kids ran out onto the deck. The adults followed them out to watch the hunt.

Avery spotted his first egg by the slide and ran to put it in his basket, quickly running to another and another after that.

Joan picked up a bright yellow egg. She shook it and realized something was inside so set her basket down to open it. She squealed when she saw the small piece of chocolate.

"Dere's candy in hewe!" she called to the adults on the deck.

"Wow!" Mary said. "Go find another one!"

Joan ran a few feet and picked up another egg, leaving her basket behind. She pried it open and gasped. "Money!" she cried, holding up a quarter.

Meanwhile Avery was quickly filling his basket with eggs.

"You can look inside them later, peanut," Mary said, shaking her head in amusement. "Just put 'em in your basket and keep looking. Avery's gonna find them all."

"Ave, leave some for Joan," Paul called to his son.

Joan went back to her basket, putting the egg pieces and her candy and quarter inside.

"Go find some more, pumpkin," Aaron said and she headed off in search of another egg.

"So how was the weekend with Joan?" Sue asked Steve and Catherine.

"So much fun," Catherine said. She smiled. "Exhausting, but fun."

Steve shook his head and looked at Aaron. "I don't know how you do it, man."

Aaron laughed. "You'll find out pretty soon," he said, nodding to Niblet.

"You're due in the summer, right?" Alyssa asked. "June, I think Mary said?"

"June 29th," Catherine confirmed, smiling as she ran a hand over her belly.

Sue sighed. "You're almost seven months pregnant. I was already huge at seven months with you, 'Lyssa."

"So was I," her daughter said, chuckling.

"Joanie got to feel her kicking," Steve said.

"Aww," Mary said, her eyes lighting up. "Really?"

"It was adorable," Catherine said. "And Saturday morning she sang _Twinkle Twinkle Little Star_ to her."

"Awwwwwww," all the women said in unison, causing everyone to laugh.

"Okay, that definitely deserved an 'awwwww,' " Aaron conceded.

"Bouncy baw!" Joan cried, drawing their attention to her. "Dere's a bouncy baw in dis one!"

Mary put a hand to her forehead, shaking her head again and chuckling. "Bouncy _ball_. Good job, peanut, keep going!"

"Have you picked a name yet?" Sue asked.

Catherine and Steve exchanged a look, small, identical smiles on their faces.

"Yes, we have," Catherine said as he slid an arm around her waist. "But we're not going to tell anyone until after she's born."

"Ohh," Mary groaned. "Seriously? You can't do that to me."

"Sorry," Catherine said, smiling.

"Don't listen to her," Alyssa said. "We did the same thing."

Mary looked at Steve skeptically. "You really think you're gonna be able to keep this in until the end of June?"

He rolled his eyes. "You blurt out one pregnancy announcement …" he said with a grin.

They laughed.

"All right, all right," she groused good-naturedly. "Niblet it is. Luckily that's pretty darn adorable."

"Mary and Aaron were telling us about the wedding," Catherine said, changing the subject. "This was your cousin's daughter, right, Ramon?"

He nodded. "Alejandra."

"It was a beautiful wedding," Alyssa said. She smiled at her husband. "Brought back wonderful memories."

"How long have you been married?" Catherine asked them.

"It'll be six years this June," Paul said.

Catherine smiled. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Alyssa said, returning her smile. "We're looking forward to another wedding soon," she added, looking pointedly at her brother and future sister-in-law.

"October 7th," Aaron said, standing up straighter.

His mother gasped. "You set a date?"

Aaron and Mary shared an excited smile. "We got official confirmation from the venue on Friday but we didn't want to step on Ali's special day," he said.

"That'll be fine, right?" Mary asked Steve and Catherine. "For Niblet to travel?"

Steve nodded. "Should be. She'll be over three months by then."

"You know, it was interesting at the wedding this weekend," Aaron said thoughtfully. "You can't help but look at things with a different eye. Thinking about what you want to do at your own wedding, you know?"

"I'll bet," Catherine said.

Joan and Avery came running up to the deck. The adults had been watching as they talked while the two had found every visible egg. Avery's basket was overflowing, while Joan's was filled with far fewer opened eggs and prizes, but both were beaming happily.

"Wow! You guys found them all!" Mary enthused.

"Oh, that's not all of 'em," Steve said.

Mary rolled her eyes. "I should have known. You didn't bury any, did you?"

"No, I didn't bury any, but there are a few more … challenging ones," he said with a glance at Catherine who chuckled, shaking her head.

"All right, you hid them, you help them find 'em."

Steve looked at the two kids, hands on his hips. "There are a couple special eggs still to find. You ready?"

"Yes!" they both cried.

Steve swung Joan up into his arms as he stepped off the deck. "All right, let's go!"

"Wet's go!"

* * *

After they found the last eggs, the casserole Catherine had put in the oven before they'd gone outside was ready to eat. They enjoyed a casual Easter brunch, complete with a paper tablecloth so that everyone could write and draw on it. Mary'd had the idea to keep parts of it for a scrapbook since she and Aaron were hosting their first real family holiday meal.

The Reyeses and Jacksons left shortly after eating to unwind at their own homes, and Steve, Catherine, Mary, Aaron, and Joan exchanged Skype calls with first the Rollinses and Grandma Ang, and then Danny and Grace with an excited Cammie and Scout in the background.

Before long, it was time for Steve and Catherine to pack their small duffels and head for the airport. They stood chatting with Mary and Aaron in the kitchen waiting for Joan who was doing something secret in her bedroom.

After a few minutes, Mary said, "I better go check on her."

Before she'd taken more than a couple steps, Joan came out of her room, a bulge under her shirt.

"What's that, Joan?" Mary asked, eyeing her curiously.

"Dat's my Nibwet," Joan said, patting what they could now tell was her baby doll, one of the little hands poking out at the bottom.

"Ohhh," Catherine said, laughing even as she clasped a hand to her chest. "That is precious."

"Your Niblet, huh?" Mary said, laughing as well. She looked back at the men who both had broad, amused smiles on their faces. She shook her head. "You are something else, peanut, I tell you."

Joan smiled proudly, swaying from side to side.

"Uncle Steve and Aunt Catherine are leaving in a minute. Go put your baby doll back in your room and come say goodbye."

Joan ran back to her room, and Mary turned back to them, shaking her head.

"Has she been asking much?" Catherine asked. "About babies or anything like that?"

"Not really. Mostly just when Niblet is coming." She glanced back and seeing the hallway still empty said, "I'm surprised she hasn't asked if she was in _my_ tummy yet."

Catherine nodded. "I'm sure that's coming."

"It is, and we're definitely ready to talk about it," Mary said, sharing a nod with Aaron. "We'll just take our cues from her on how much to tell her."

"I think that's right," Catherine said. "You're her parents, you'll know what to say when the time comes."

Aaron nodded. "I've got some experience from her side of things."

It was Steve's turn to nod. "Speaking of the adoption, how's it going?"

"Slowly," Aaron said with a groan. "The courts are so backed up. They said a year to eighteen months and that was back in December, so we're looking at next year at the earliest."

"But we're already a family," Mary said, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. "The courts will just make it official."

"That's right," Steve said.

Joan ran back out of her room, now wearing her princess dress over her clothes and butterfly wings over that.

"Well, look at you now," Catherine said, laughing.

Mary snorted. "That's our Joan."

"Yes, it is," Aaron said.

Steve smiled broadly at his beloved niece. "And we wouldn't want her any other way."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Note:** We know you're probably VERY curious, REAL McRollers, and we promise you will get a FULL flashback scene on the name decision after Niblet is born. In the meantime, feel free to guess :-)

 _Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll_

 _Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net_

 _Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com_

 _You can still join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with Add me, please! in the subject line._

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